Former world champion Caleb Plant has voiced his opinion that Devin Haney doesn`t deserve the criticism he received for his performance against Jose Ramirez, which some found unexciting.
Plant commented, “Seeing Devin`s approach in the opening round, my initial thought was, `Alright, maybe he`s just feeling things out, perhaps a bit tense after the Ryan Garcia fight, and he`ll relax.` However, you can`t maintain that kind of anxious energy for the entire 12 rounds. Fighting that way throughout the bout is only possible if it was your specific game plan for all 12 rounds. This indicates what their strategy was for the fight – that`s what was expected of Haney.”
He added, “Executing that plan for 36 minutes requires significant discipline and focus. Jose isn`t just a static target, and it wasn`t Devin`s responsibility to make the fight more competitive or entertaining. Devin`s objective was simply to secure the win as effortlessly as possible. It was Jose`s responsibility to make the fight more competitive, to try and corner him. Ramirez struggled to land his shots without being caught flat-footed. So, did he manage to make the fight more exciting? No,” Plant concluded.
As a reminder, Haney secured a victory over Ramirez via unanimous decision on May 2nd.
